At CRSM, our mission is three-fold: 1) to get our students to-and-through college, 2) to prepare them for the professional world of work, and 3) to inspire them to lead faith-filled lives committed to justice. It is simple enough to say but, as you contemplate the moving parts and experience them in action, our mission is far more complex and far more powerful in its actual execution.
Regardless of what you read in the many op-eds, a college education is still statistically the best way for a young person of limited means to find upward economic mobility. I am not discounting the professional trades or certificate credentials but, overall, the lifetime earnings potential from selected bachelor’s degrees far outdistances non-degree pathways. Some of our graduates choose non-degree alternatives and they definitely improve their situations. We whole-heartedly support them while also taking pride in the fact that, for the last six years in-a-row, all our graduates have been accepted to a bachelor’s program. Each graduate from CRSM has college as one of their options while they weigh the best pathway for themselves. They also know for a fact that a bachelor’s program is still a future option for them if it makes sense in their individual journeys.
I always tell our students, “It’s good to have options.” CRSM is really about creating valuable and viable career options for our youth.
Entering professional work environments through our Corporate Work Study Program, gives students a tangible glimpse at what might be possible for them. They build social capital through coworkers, supervisors and mentors… people they may not have otherwise encountered in their neighborhood… people who went to college and can help take the mystery out of that journey – especially since over 90% of our students are the first generation in their family to attend college. Through the experience of work, education becomes more relevant as a stepping stone to a better future rather than something to “get through” before real life begins – a means to a more-advantaged end.
CRSM accepts students of all faiths and students with no faith tradition at all. Still, we are unabashed in challenging our students to think deeply about what they believe and, even more importantly, how are they putting those beliefs into action. Talents and potential are God-given. As students are encouraged to work hard to develop their skills and abilities, we want them to be thinking how their experiences and talents can be used in ways that not only benefit them and their families, but will also have lasting, positive impacts on other people. A corner oVice and big salary should not be the goal, but those achievements can be a means for influencing the lives of others and building a better future beyond just ourselves.
CRSM exists to promote the long-term flourishing of our students. We aim for every graduate to be accepted to, enrolled in, and complete a best-fit post-secondary experience that will propel our students toward a fulfilled life and allow them to use their God-given talents to make our world a better place.
So, as we celebrate CRSM’s Class of 2025 and where they are choosing to attend college (the list is beyond impressive: including MIT, Yale, Georgetown, University of Chicago, Stanford, Tufts, Middlebury, Northwestern, Notre Dame, and Carleton), we are more importantly celebrating ALL the individual choices and journeys each of our graduates makes. We admire and encourage our top-performing students, but are equally proud of our students who are grinding it out at lesser-known colleges – being true pioneers for their families, entering uncharted waters with courage and determination.
At our Founders’ Dinner in April, an alumna who recently graduated Georgetown School of Law shared her moving and emotional story as a first-generation college graduate and now lawyer and legal professional. Amazing! Many of us cried tears of joy for her success.
And yet, unbeknownst to many outside the walls of CRSM, we were also crying tears of joy for two alumni in the Class of 2015 who just announced their completion of bachelors’ degrees – both from Northern Illinois University in 2025. It took them 10 years and several transfers between various schools, but they did it. They never gave up despite setbacks and doubts. They didn’t let anything get in their way of their dreams. Their grit, perseverance, and determination paid oV for them. One is now a degreed engineer at UL Solutions (Underwriters’ Labs) and the other is an accounting professional and audit associate at RSM US. They embody our mission as much as, or even more than, our superstars who go to the most prestigious schools and graduate in four years.
Oh, by the way, the two Northern Illinois graduates are now engaged to be married. Their journeys continue.
Our school exists to promote the long-term flourishing of our students. We hope to set each student on their own path that will propel our students toward a fulfilled life and allow them to use their God-given talents to make our world a better place. What a blessing to see that mission unfold in the real world.
¡Viva, Cristo Rey!